One of a number of short films sold to the public for home entertainment during WWII, this film shows the activities of German U-boats on the high seas. The boat featured is that of Captain Luth, U-181, whose boat sank 47 Allied merchant ships and a submarine during the confict. He became the first of just two naval officers to win the Third Reich’s highest award for valor.
The film shows Luth and U-181 deploying into the Atlantic, forming up into a Wolf Pack on orders from Admiral Donitz (1:51), and making a successful attack on an Allied convoy at 6:00. Tactics are briefly described in title cards. The film ends with a night attack, and burning Allied shipping illuminating the night sky.
U-181 was a Type IXD2 U-boat of Germany’s Kriegsmarine launched on 30 December 1941. Under Lüth’s command she sailed on two long combat patrols in late 1942 and 1943, patrolling the waters off South Africa and Mozambique and sinking 22 ships for a total of 103,712 tons, making Lüth the second most successful U-boat commander of the war (after Otto Kretschmer) and earning him promotion to Korvettenkapitän and the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. He went on to command the 22nd U-boat Flotilla. Much later in the war, after Germany’s surrender in May 1945 the U-boat was taken over by Japan at Singapore and commissioned as I-501. She surrendered to Allied forces in August 1945. Luth himself did not survive the war. He was accidentally shot and killed by a German sentry on the night of 13/14 May 1945. On 16 May 1945, Lüth was given the last state funeral in Nazi Germany.
We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example like: “01:00:12:00 — President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.”
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
